(Archived Content)
WASHINGTON – Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2008 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at http://www.treas.gov/tic/fpis.html. Final survey results, which will include additional detail as well as revisions to the data, will be reported on October 30, 2009.
The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
A complementary survey measuring foreign holdings of U.S. securities also is conducted annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2009, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 26, 2010.
Overall Preliminary Results
The survey measured U.S. holdings at year-end 2008 of approximately $4.3 trillion, with $2.7 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.3 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.3 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2007, measured U.S. holdings of $7.2 trillion, with $5.2 trillion held in foreign equities, $1.6 trillion in foreign long-term debt securities and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.
Table 1. U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, as of survey dates [1]
(Billions of dollars)
Type of Security | Dec. 31, 2007 | Dec. 31, 2008 |
|
|
|
Long-term Securities | 6,855 | 4,009 |
Equity | 5,248 | 2,748 |
Long-term debt | 1,607 | 1,261 |
Short-term debt securities | 357 | 282 |
|
|
|
Total | 7,212 | 4,291 |
U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country
Table 2. U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by country of issuer and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. portfolio investment, as of December 31, 2008
(Billions of dollars, except as noted)
| Country or region | Total | Equity | Long-Term Debt | Short-Term Debt |
1 | United Kingdom | 647 | 377 | 185 | 85 |
2 | Japan | 403 | 348 | 54 | 2 |
3 | Canada | 378 | 180 | 166 | 32 |
4 | Cayman Islands | 315 | 95 | 202 | 18 |
5 | France | 285 | 212 | 58 | 15 |
6 | Germany | 255 | 160 | 80 | 15 |
7 | Switzerland | 218 | 214 | 4 | * |
8 | Netherlands | 169 | 77 | 75 | 18 |
9 | Bermuda | 163 | 143 | 19 | 1 |
10 | Australia | 146 | 65 | 71 | 9 |
11 | Spain | 93 | 63 | 25 | 5 |
12 | Brazil | 91 | 72 | 19 | * |
13 | Mexico | 65 | 46 | 19 | * |
14 | Hong Kong | 65 | 61 | 3 | * |
15 | Ireland | 63 | 22 | 23 | 18 |
16 | Italy | 62 | 47 | 13 | 1 |
17 | Luxembourg | 60 | 16 | 37 | 8 |
18 | Sweden | 59 | 30 | 20 | 9 |
19 | Korea , South | 56 | 45 | 10 | * |
20 | China , Mainland | 55 | 53 | 2 | * |
21 | Israel | 46 | 31 | 15 | * |
22 | Taiwan | 41 | 41 | * | 0 |
23 | Finland | 41 | 36 | 3 | 3 |
24 | Netherlands Antilles | 38 | 37 | 1 | * |
25 | Jersey | 37 | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| Rest of world | 437 | 264 | 148 | 24 |
| Total | 4,291 | 2,748 | 1,261 | 282 |
* Greater than zero, but less than $500 million
[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 31, 2008 reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2007, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury's transactions reporting system. The final report on U.S. holdings of foreign securities as of end-year 2008 will contain an analysis of the relation between the stock and flow data.